Lusik I.

The interview took place in November 2018.

We visited Lusik I.. She was born in Shosh village, in a large family. Her family was very friendly and hard-working. They were three sisters and two brothers. Her father Movses was very happy with his kids and worked hard to give them the best education. All of them were good at school. After finishing school Lusik entered Yerevan Textile College and graduated from the college with Honors. She met her husband Abel when she was a student. She has the sweetest memories: “We really loved each other. That was true pure love. We got married when we were 18” she says with a dreamy expression. A couple of years later they understood that they could not have children and in a while adopted a small boy, Ashot.

“Our life has gained a new meaning full of happiness. We used every occasion to organize events like birthdays, New Year Celebrations, entering and leaving school parties, etc. Ashot loved us a lot and we were happy with him”. Ashot got his university degree in Rostov, Russia. After graduating from the university, he returned to Artsakh. Then he met a girl and got married. Lusik was happy to mention that Abel managed to see his grandchildren.

Lusik’s sisters – Manya and Seda – were very caring and loving sisters. Manya was the eldest. She was very hard-working and used to do farming and gardening despite her higher education. She was living in Shosh although she had an apartment in town. Manya never married. She got a bone thickness and lived bedridden for the last years. She moved to Stepanakert after the war and lived in this apartment. She was the first sister to join Hanganak.

Seda was the youngest sister. She was also educated. She spent most of her life in the village. She was young when their neighbors told the sisters that she used to leave the house and could not find the way back later on. Seda was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease. Although Manya was sick herself she invited her sister Seda to live with her, so Seda moved to Stepanakert and joined Hanganak, too. After Abel’s death and Ashot’s endless quarrels with his wife, Lusik has decided to join her sisters to take care of them and leave her big apartment to Ashot.

Five years ago Hanganak staff visited sisters and after a joint discussion decided unanimously to include Lusik in the organization. Besides the tough social conditions, Lusik was the only one to take care of her sick sisters. Couple of years ago she lost her elder sister, Manya, a month later she lost Seda and remained all alone.

Ashot has forgotten about Lusik, he has never visited or called. Lusik tells with sorrow how happy she could have been if he visited her in summer bringing her a cold watermelon. That would not have bothered him a lot. But Lusik last saw Ashot two years ago when her sisters were gone.  She felt so bad two years ago that she took the phone and somehow called Ashot with shivering hands. He came, measured her blood pressure and gave her some medicine. He stayed by her side some time. She thought she was dying and that was their last meeting so she took off her necklace with a cross, her last valuable thing, and gave it to him. She has never seen him thereafter.

Her pension is only 43000 AMD. She gets help from Hanganak and her nephews who are scientists and live in the Russian Federation. She is very proud of her talented nephews and considers the day that one of them was awarded the title Best Young Physicist of Russia one of the best in her life.

“Hanganak changed my life completely. Monthly provisions, medicine and heating compensation, not to mention the events, that I participate regularly, help us a lot. Hanganak does what Ashot should do. I am thankful to Gohar and Hanganak staff for giving a new meaning to my life”.

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